Hawaii Day 8--Saturday New Year's Day

New Year's Day we headed over to G&G's cottage so that M&D could actually see it during the day. The tree in the picture is the one Aunt R helped me climb on Wednesday. Notice how close they are to the beach. Almost a private one--only the five other cottages use it. And because it is in a cove, it is protected from the surf so calm enough for me to swim in anytime.
The cottage that G&G, Uncle B&Aunt M, and Aunt R all stayed in. It was across base from our lodge, but only about a 5 minute drive.

Calm beach, but notice the surf breaking way off in the distance.

By 9:30 we were ready to head off base and hike Diamond Head, an inactive volcano on the island.

Getting ready to start. We started at the bottom of the crater and worked our way up to the top and the view of the island.

Honolulu and Waikiki.

The Diamond Head lighthouse below us.

The expensive beach homes along the coral lined shore.

C had the easy ride up. At the top she had a fan club. A Japanese family couldn't get enough of her and actually came over to ask if the kids could get their picture with her. I mean M thinks she is cute but it was still crazy how this teen Japanese girl (who didn't speak a lot of English) just could not get enough, kept touching her, laughing and smiling at her. They say that blue eyed blonds are in the minority!

Everyone else enjoying the views and resting before heading back down. The mile hike/climb included 200+ steep steps, a tunnel and out the barricade on an old gunnery fort. But coming from Colorado that was nothing. I climbed it all by myself!

D and I resting after the hard climb.

The last obstacle before reaching the top. It used to be the lookout/gun fortress.

Climbing down the steep stairs. Besides these stairs there were also round stairs near the top.

In the tunnel.

The view looking out of the tunnel over the island.

Stopping for a family picture.

Uncle B, Aunt M and Uncle W hiking down.

G&G coming down.

After hiking, we headed into town to get a bite to eat. Due to limited parking spaces we ended up parking in the KFC lot, so D and I went there to eat while everyone else went to the Japanese noodle place down the street. After lunch we headed back to base to enjoy the cabin and the beach. We stopped at our lodge to get games and books, while everyone else went to rent a kayak for the rest of the day. To get to the cottages we had to drive across the active airstrip. It was gated, but was usually open and no sentry was every there, which was good because M's pass only allowed entry to the lodge and Wade's barracks. This day however the military police were in the road. When asked where we were heading, we said the beach cottages. No escort was currently available, so we were told to try back a little later. For more details see me sidenote entry! 1/2 hour later we headed back to the cottage. M, W, R and G headed up a little further to snorkel. C was sleeping so D and B stayed in the cabin with her and watched the Bowl game. G, M and I played on the beach. When G came back, we tried to go out in the kayak, but it was very difficult to maneuver around the coral; so M and R tried to take over and got out even less than we did. When we got back to shore, we realized why. It was low, low tide and lots of coral was sticking up out of the water. So Uncle W and Aunt M took the kayak to another beach and surfed the waves, capsizing a few times but that's the fun of it. When the sun started setting, we grilled chicken and Aunt R played some dice with me. Uncle B and Aunt M said good-bye and headed to the airport for their overnight flight back to MN. As we were eating supper, M saw a gecko on the wall. It freaked Aunt R out because that was the room she was sleeping in. G just said, "that must have been the animal we heard last night in the wall." We headed back to the lodge about 9 for bed. C had been pretty needy all day so M was pretty sure another tooth was coming in. The way C slept that night was also a indicator--she finally slept better after 3 when M gave her Tylenol.